The Blues were no strangers to The Big Apple, having competed in the inaugural New York Football Challenge in July 2010 under the stewardship of Roberto Mancini, coming up against the New York Red Bulls, Sporting Lisbon and Tottenham Hotspur.

Decades earlier, in 1954, City faced Scottish outfit Hearts at Brooklyn’s Ebetts Field Stadium as part of a pre-season trip which also saw the team stop off in St Louis!

A more famous encounter followed in May 1980 when the Blues took on the storied New York Cosmos at the Giants Stadium in a match which formed part of the first Trans-Atlantic Challenge, also starring AS Roma and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

City first hit the west coast following the conclusion of the 2010/11 season where they competed in the Herbalife World Football Challenge.

The tournament involved matches against Mexican side Club America, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Los Angeles Galaxy.

Two players who swapped the USA for Manchester…

Claudio Reyna

Reyna was a hero both at home and abroad – captaining the US national team and racking up 111 appearances for his country.

Regarded as one of the USA’s finest players, he enjoyed a successful club career at Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg, Rangers and Sunderland before arriving in the blue half of Manchester in 2003.

A popular figure with the City faithful throughout his 3 ½ seasons with the club, the midfielder departed for the New York Red Bulls in January 2007. The Big Apple was a big hit with Claudio – he remained in the city after retirement and is now playing a key role in New York City FC as Director of Football.

DaMarcus Beasley

The first American to appear in the Champions League semi-finals while with PSV Eindhoven, DaMarcus Beasley joined his compatriot Reyna at the Etihad Stadium on a season’s loan in 2006.

Beasley scored four goals in 22 appearances for the Blues, the winger’s debut strike earning City all three points against West Ham.

Proving successful in MLS action with Chicago Fire early on in his career, DaMarcus has since spent time at Rangers and Hannover, and currently plays for Puebla in the Mexican Primera Division.